IF U JUST GOT CAPPED BY UT AUSTIN

If you just got capped by UT Austin, my advice as someone who did it four years ago. I just wanted to come on here and have a little chit-chat because I totally forgot, and maybe that's just because I'm a post-grad and I don't want to think about these things anymore. It's college admissions time of year again, and apparently a lot of people just got capped from UT Austin. So I'm getting, every year, I get an influx of DMs and views on my old TikToks and YouTube videos about my CAP experience before I went to UT. And sometimes it is just like a lovely reminder that I have grown past that stage because that time in my life was not a pretty one, not a fun one. Look where I'm at now, you know? And so I just want to come on here and quickly answer a few of the most common questions I get in my DMs about the CAP program and about my experience. First of all, do I think it's worth it? I will always give the same answer. It depends on what you prioritize in your college experience. First and foremost, for me, whether it's for like school or job or work or whatever, location matters a lot to me. Where I am geographically, what city I am in matters a lot to me, and I wanted to be in Austin. And outside of that, I have a lot of friends who went to UT, my sister went to UT. I love UT in general, great school. And then the third part of that is I wanted to be an advertising major, and UT advertising is like the best, literally. So those were all incredibly strong pillars for me to be like, it might suck right now that I have to go through this transition and this like extra set before I get there, but ultimately why I chose to do that instead of just going to a different four-year university from the start is because of like what I actually wanted at the end of it. Like I wanted that UT Austin advertising diploma. The next thing everyone says is like, especially if you're applying for outside of liberal arts, going from CAP going to UT, what can you do to make your resume better? How can you stand out to actually get that major of your choice? And what I'll say is I would focus on your essays more than your resume or what your like transcript looks like from UTA. First of all, get a 4.0. It's pretty damn easy to get a 4.0 at UTA or any of the sister schools before you get to UT. So definitely get yourself a 4.0. Join like a club, maybe two. I joined one, I don't think I even went to a meeting ever. It was also like COVID time. And so, honestly, like my transcript didn't really matter much other than the fact that I got a 4.0, and maybe I the electives I chose were kind of irrelevant. Like I took psychology and sociology there, and that is relevant to like advertising. But so like maybe try to choose an elective that is relevant to your chosen field. But more than that, focus on your essays. It's essentially like you're reapplying to college, and when you are applying to college, you know how important your college admissions essays are. So, very same thing. My last tip for anyone on the fence is just go for it. I mean, I think the biggest thing that turns people off to doing this program is the shame in doing it, because you're at a very tiny university with a lot less people than you thought you were going to know going into like UT or a big university. You don't have as much of a social life, there's just not as much things to do. It's like not the most glamorous, fun like college experience ever. It can be if you make it that, and I did, me and my friends did, but it's like not what people going into college, especially wanting to go to UT, expect. But there's no shame in it. And especially more and more people are getting more and more capped because the acceptance level going to UT is lower and lower. This is just a part of the process. It doesn't mean that you're less than, doesn't mean you're not smart, doesn't mean you're less accomplished or that you won't be more accomplished in the future. I know a lot of people who got into UT freshman year and I'm objectively doing better than a lot of them. It's more about like what you want, how you want to get there, how much you're willing to sacrifice or like actually keep trying over and over again to get what you want. So just think about where you want to be in four years from now. What you want your life to look like, what you want your social life to look like, your work life, the opportunities you want to have, and if all that stems from being at UT Austin, which for me it did, then take that leap. Especially if you don't have anywhere else you like severely want to go to for the next four years that isn't UT Austin. Considered going to a different university for four years that and just like giving up on my UT Austin dreams. But honestly, like at the end of the day, knowing that would be there for four years did not make me any more happy than like going through this bump and then spending three years at UT Austin having the best years of my life. So, just think about what you want long-term. Yeah, good luck to all of the high school seniors right now. My comments are open, my DMs are open. Reach out if you need any advice or want to hear anything from me. The rules in CAP have changed a little bit since I went there, but I also know a lot of people younger than me who have gone through the CAP program with the new rules and the summer school and stuff like that. So I can always send along contacts if that's necessary. So I might not be able to help you on the semantics and the details of the program now, but the whole gist of it, the experience of it, if you have any questions, just let me know. Bye.